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After a competitive pitch, the Royal New Zealand Ballet has appointed Special Group as its design and communications agency.

"It's a great fit for us," says Special's Michael Redwood. "They are a genuinely world class and innovative creative company, and with American ballet superstar Ethan Stiefel arriving as artistic director later this year, it's a really exciting time to be working with them."

RNZB’s general manager Amanda Skoog says Special won out because "they’ve got a knack for creating memorable campaigns, and our aim is always to create memorable experiences, so we think it will be a fantastic and exciting partnership".

Back in December when the pitch was announced, marketing and development manager Penn Travella, who has just resigned, said the troupe decided to move on from Len Cheeseman and the gang at Ornament in Wellington and were "now seeking a shiny new agency to work with us on our quest to take on the world—which in 2011 involves performing in locations as far flung as Kerikeri and Cardiff".

Comms manager Robyn McClean wouldn't say who else was involved in the pitch, but said the general feeling was that it was of a very high standard and was also quite a fun process.

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